5 Crippling Effects of Micromanagement
Feeling the breath on the back of your neck while you are concentrating on the task at hand. Afraid that one small hiccup on the project will lead to a long-winded lash-out from your superior. Leaving you feeling worthless and incompetent. Trust, the chief cornerstone for building a relationship, both personal and professional. When we break the building block of relationships, it is hard, if not impossible, to gain the trust back. If the boss is using the magnifying glass for more than burning bugs, they may end up breaking the employee’s trust. The employee can feel unsafe, and that their work isn’t valued. Broken trust can lead to their performance declining and energy focused on the survival of the job.
Micromanagement in the corporate world is more common than we would like to see. From top-down, it looks as if the managers are on top of their tasks and in control of their team. In the short run, they may see great results, but the long haul is on a path for destruction.
5 Effects of Micromanagement
1. Loss of Trust — Micromanagement is the lack of trust from the supervisor. With trust being a two-way street, the employee will, in turn, lose faith with their boss. This demoralizes and demotivates the employees. The team will not see you as a manager but an oppressor making the work-life miserable.
2. Low Morale — Autonomy for an employee gives them a sense of belonging, and that they are being heard. When a manager removes their opportunities to make decisions, they feel muzzled. Leading to a lack of employee engagement and less creative minds at work.
3. Decreasing Team Productivity — Looking over the shoulder of employees can impact productivity. With paranoia building up and employees second-guessing their work, they become dependent. Also, when management focuses too much on employee tasks, they lose sight of their own.
4. Lack of Innovation — Silencing or criticizing ideas takes a toll on creativity. It’s hard to expect employees to speak up and help with the innovation of a company if they are always shut down. Soon a department will plateau due to a lack of brains working together
5. Employee Turnover — No one likes to be micromanaged, or at least not a lot of people do. 90% of the time, an employee is being micromanaged; it leads to one word, “I quit.” Waking up in the mornings dreading to come to work and wondering if your inputs are providing value, leads to unneeded anxiety. No one needs that feeling, not the employer, and not the employee.
In Closing
Micromanagement has no benefit for the company nor the employee. It is creating a culture that fosters anxiety and creates a high-stress work environment. Putting the time in to hire someone means you are putting your trust in them to do the job indicated. They are opening up time for the manager to shift focus on the next set of projects. An empowered workforce fosters autonomy, which increases engagement across the company — driving higher engagement, innovation, and boosting the bottom line.
In this shifting global marketplace, happy, loyal employees are your most significant competitive advantage. Take time to hire the right people for the job, trust them, embrace their creativity, and let each employee strive to do their best. Which may look different for each individual. Don’t fear failure; we all fail, get up, learn, and move forward.
